The latest massive LEGO set is a homage to Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995). It is an art deco skyline of Gotham City, as depicted in the show. It is wider than it is tall—two-and-a-half feet across and one-and-a-half feet vertically—and it's bordered by a black frame with a smooth finish. See it at the LEGO Store.
Photos have a flattening effect. Looking at the promotional photos of this build, you might think this is a two-dimensional portrait, similar to the LEGO Dots mosaic of The Beatles. Or, you might think that this is similar to the LEGO Hokusai The Great Wave, which is 90 percent flat, but has a handful of quirky 3D flourishes that accentuate the portrait and make it playful.
But the new LEGO Gotham City is neither of those things. This is a fully realized, three-dimensional relief. All of the buildings protrude outwards from the frame. And many of the buildings are explorable; you remove the facade, and there are tiny dioramas underneath, containing numerous, clever Easter eggs.
From a distance, you appreciate its overall mood and presentation. But the closer you get—and as your eyes adjust and pick out the 3D elements—you're impressed by this set's depth, both literally and figuratively. Once it's complete, you can either prop it up as a mantle display—there is a stand that protrudes from the back—or you can hang it up on a wall with a couple of load-bearing nails.
The LEGO Gotham City has 44 building phases, each of which has a labeled, numbered bag. Included in the set are four LEGO Minifigures of Batman, Harley Quinn (who made her official debut during the show's run), Joker, and Catwoman. Each character has its respective accessory: Batman has a Batarang, Harley Quinn has a gun, Joker has a bundle of dynamite, and Catwomn has a whip. The instructions are spread out across two booklets. Book 1 has you build the right half of the city. Book 2 has you build the left half, and then merge the two halves together.
The entire set is anchored onto a series of red base plates, which represent the sky, and darker red bricks, which represent the clouds or perhaps the urban pollution. It underlines the film noir vibe of the animated series; this is a city built with blood, and corruption runs deep.
Then you build the outline of the buildings and the dioramas—you're working from the inside out. In the area of Wayne Manor, for example, you build the underground Bat Cave, which has a miniature facsimile of the Batmobile. In the area of Arkham Asylum, for example, you build the cells that house the most dangerous criminals. The criminals are represented as tiny sticker drawings, which you affix to tiles and then overlay with clear tiles meant to represent plexiglass.
The LEGO designers scattered these tiles throughout the build, and each one hits like a tiny burst of nostalgia. It's impressive how so many characters are immediately identifiable from a few features and accessories, and on a LEGO Minifigure body, no less. The LEGO designers also included some deep cuts from Batman's rogues' gallery. It's not just Joker, Bane, and Catwoman, and call it a day. There are also minor characters like The Ventriloquist, Man-Bat, and The Mad Hatter. And there are even more obscure villains, like The Cavalier and The Condiment King, who gives the impression that he's squirting ketchup and mustard in arcs over his head.
Then you build the buildings' exteriors, which are broader on the bottom and narrower as you go up, which gives the impression of skyscrapers that end in architectural peaks. You build these exteriors as isolated elements, separate from the main build, and then you place them onto the 'canvas,' piecemeal, to create a cumulative effect.
This is both the most tedious and the most interesting part of the build.
Tedious, because the buildings are all composed of small pieces that feel increasingly granular and fussy if you're the type who builds for hours on end. So you'll probably want to space things out; this is not the type of build that you 'speed run,' for lack of a better term, because it'll become an interminable slog.
Interesting, because architecture is often where LEGO shines brightest. From the columns in front of the museum, to the steps that lead up to them, to the ferris wheel in the Joker-themed amusement park, to the marquee sign outside the Laff Palace, to the dilapidated exterior of Arkham Asylum, to the no-nonsense exterior of the police station, it's one clever little build after another. They are placed at different depths in the frame, which really gives the entire build a sense of time and place. This is a LEGO city, as opposed to a LEGO representation of a city.
When the people in my life ask me about LEGO, they all have the same question: "Where do you put it all?" This is a reasonable question; a child can afford to have models lying around his bedroom, but an adult with a wife and son, can less afford to.
Some I keep for myself, others I give to friends or family. But that's an ongoing concern for LEGO aficionados, specifically for those with limited space, and especially for those with a limited budget. If something costs you $300, it seems like a waste to stow in the back of a closet or an attic. You want to feature it in some way that also integrates into your home.
The Gotham City build feels like the next, natural step in LEGO's "Adults Welcome" strategy. How do we incorporate these builds into an adult lifestyle, and make them a seamless part of the space, rather than roping it off into a dedicated rec room?
This is a painstaking but rewarding build, demanding your entire attention to get every tile, stud, and brick in its proper place. I had to backtrack several times to make sure that everything lined up properly. But the end result is really quite stunning. And whenever I walk by it, hanging on a wall, it's fun to scrutinize and find something new.
The LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City, Set #76271, retails for $299.99, and it is composed of 4210 pieces. It is available exclusively at the LEGO Store.
For more, check out our picks for the best Harry Potter LEGO sets, as well as the coolest Disney LEGO sets. And for those on a budget, we also have a roundup of the best cheap LEGO sets for under $25 (unlike the Batman one).
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
